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TALLAHASSEE — Last August, the Florida State football team began preseason practice hoping to merely break a pattern of mediocrity.

It took one year — but a year that included 10 victories and a bowl triumph over the SEC championship game losers — for expectations to soar near levels heaped on FSU teams in the 1990s, the decade that the program won both of its national titles.

The Seminoles took the practice field for the first time Monday wearing only T-shirts and shorts but resisting the temptation to be fitted for championship rings. FSU went 10-4 last year, beat in-state rivals Florida and Miami, won the Atlantic Coast Conference Atlantic Division and then beat South Carolina in the Chick-fil-A Bowl.

Those accomplishments under first-year coach Jimbo Fisher, combined with 16 returning starters and a recruiting class ranked first in the nation by some experts, have led to high expectations on several fronts: FSU was picked by the ACC media to win the league title (which would mean getting past defending champion Virginia Tech), voted by the coaches to fifth in the USA Today preseason rankings and adored by fans who have been enchanted with Fisher's rookie year and a roster clogged with talent.

FSU is so deep that quarterback EJ Manuel, who replaces first-round NFL pick Christian Ponder, has already won two bowl games, taking over when Ponder was injured. The loss of returning starter Taiwan Easterling at wide receiver to the Chicago Cubs scarcely created a ripple.

And it was all business the first day.

"They practiced hard and didn't pat themselves on the back," Fisher said after a practice that was interrupted by lightning for about 30 minutes. "We talk about it all the time, that when you come here, you're going to have expectations. You're going to have to deal with it and because of that, you're going to get everyone's best shot. We need to be ready when the time comes."

Senior linebacker Nigel Bradham said the players are trying to avoid paying much attention to outside forces.

"We could get caught up in the hype, but at the end of the day it means nothing," Bradham said. "You lose one game and the hype is gone."

But that hype will last at least until the third week of the season, and beyond, if the Seminoles beat Oklahoma Sept. 17 at home. The Sooners are ranked first in the USA Today poll and the game is among the top early intrasectional contests of the season.

"We have two games before that," said running back Lonnie Pryor of the tune-ups against Louisiana-Monroe and Charleston Southern to open the season. "We can't worry about [Oklahoma]."

FSU will work out in T-shirts and shorts today, go to shells Wednesday, Thursday and Friday and put full pads on for the first time Saturday.